Grip roller construction for autographic registers



Oct. 15, 1957 A. BECKER GRIP ROLLER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Filed Jan. 18. 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 j a 27 H Q Z4 43 IJIJU o O O O i a 3 IN V EN TOR.

A ToggEys A. BECKER GRIP ROLLER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Filed Jan. 18, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

A-r-mleuEvs.

. Oct. 15, 1957 BECKER 2,809,830

GRIP ROLLER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Filed Jan. 18. 1954 R 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

A. BECKER Oct. 15, 1957 GRIP ROLLER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 18, 1954 IN VEN TOR.

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.discs, which contact'the under surface thereof.

i e a e t GRIP ROLLER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS Aloysius Beck en -Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Paul Benninghofen and F. B. Diesba ch, Hamilton, Ohio, trustees Application January 18, 1954, Serial No. 404,547 a Claims. 01. 271-24 of perforations. These apertures cooperate with feeding and aligning "mechanism of the register to insure that I the superimposed forms of each set are delivered onto the writing platen of the machine in accurate registry with respect to one another.

In my copending patent application Serial No. 404,561, filed January 18, 1954, I have disclosed improved feeding and aligning mechanism for an autographic register which incorporates a pair of feed discs and a grip roller. The manifolding stationery is engaged between the grip roller, which contacts the upper surface thereof,and the The roller and discs are driven by means such as a hand crank and serve to advancethe stationery. They also cooperate to align in a general way the superimposed forms by virtue of their relationship to the apertures in the forms.

In addition, extensible p ns carried on the feed disci serve to complete the alignment of the forms, the aligning pins becoming effective during the last portion onlyof the operating cycle of the machine, at whichtime they engage in the apertures and move the forms into accurate registrywith respect toone another. is cammed upwardly out of contact with the form'sfduring this period in order to free moved by the pins. Except for this one, brief period in the cycle of operation, the grip roller is in contact with the forms, being urged downwardly by springs. Thus, in

them so that they can be 'fThe grip roller v,

right of the writing platen as order to load the register by placing the stationery forms initially in position to be advanced and aligned, means must be provided to raise the grip roller'so that the apertures in the first set of forms of theStationery' can he engaged over the aligning pins. It is this particular phase of the operation of an autographic register to which the present invention is directed, and it is the objective of the invention to provide an improved grip roller con struction which is simple to operate and which is efficient in operation.

One of the novel features of the invention is the pro- .vision of a grip roller assembly for an autographic register in which springs are employed to urge the roller downwardly into operating position and are also utilized to urge the roller upwardly for loading purposes. -.In their hold-down function the springs are employed int r sion to pull the roller downwardly intoposition to co.- operate with the feed discs. To raise and free the grip roller for loading purposes, the same springsvare utilized in compression to push the roller {outof conventional and is known to indicated at 13.

\ l sten d oct. 15, 1957 "ice a 2 tact with the feed discs. In order to change over the springs from one operating condition to the other, a novel shifting mechanism is provided. In the preferred embodiment the shift is accomplished by the simple expedient of raisingor lowering a finger operated latch which is so placed so as to be instantly accessible to the opera-- tor upon the opening of the register casing. For a complete disclosure of a grip roller assembly embodying the principles of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a top plan view of an autographic register incorporating an improved grip roller construction of the present invention. Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 in which the lid ofthe register isopen, a portion only of the lid being shown. d

Figure 3 isa cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. v N

Figure 4 is across sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure3. Figure 5 is a. cross sectional view vtaken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3, showing the grip roller in operating position. d Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing the grip roller in the process of being raised. J d Figure 7 is across-sectional view taken onthe line 7--7 of Figure 3 showing the side of theregister opposite to the. one illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, in which the grip roller is in the position shown in Figure 6. Figure 8 is a view similar to Figures 5 and 6 showing the grip roller in raised or released position. 1 i Figure 9. is a view' similar to Figure 7 showing the grip roller in released position. v .ln the drawings an autographic register is indicated generally by the numeral 10. The register shown has a cover or lid 11 whichis formed inone piece as acasting of light metal such as aluminum. Thelid preferably is hinged to the register casing at one side thereof as shown in Figure 2. The lid has a rectangular window 12 in the top thereof to expose manifolding forms such as the one The forms are brought into registry upon a writing platen 14, being fed from a packet (not shown) which is placed within the register casing beneath the writing platen. The forms are threaded through an improved separator assembly shown at the it appears in Figure 2. The separator assembly is indicated generally by the numeral 15 and is disclosed in detail in my copending patentap plication Serial No. 404,707, filed January, 18, 1954.; L The manifolding forms are withdrawn from the packet, through strip separators, across'the writing platen, where they are interleaved with carbon paper, and delivered in registry with respect to one another on the writing platen bythe feeding and aligningmechanism of copending ap plication Serial No. 404,561, referred to above. During the advancing operation, aset of forms is also discharged through a delivery slot 16 onto the .top of the cover at the left as it appears in Figure 1 where they may be torn from the strip. f At the same time, the lowermost one of. the forms is delivered into a storage compartment. indicated generally at 17 and which is located-beneath the coveror lid at the left side of the machine as it appears in FigureZ I H The above described path of movement of the forms is those skilled in the art. For.

0 this reason the parts of theregister which concern the storage of the forms and their movement to and fromthefeeding and aligning mechanism, which is located near the center of theregisterat the .head end f the Writing asant-estates s wai J shown in "Figure 3, i. e.,

The feeding and aligning mechanism is mounted in a chassis consisting of a pair of side plates 18-18. These plates are secured to the bottom of the register casing adjacent to the respective ppposite side' wallsithereofi Each wall includesa foot ilange 19 which maybe spot welded-to the bottom of the register-casi gand .an' inturned, vertical flange 20 which serves to rig ify the up right portion of the wall. The feeding and aligning mech: anism consists generally of agrip roller 21,.a pair of feed discs 22-22, a pair of aligning pin actuatorcams 23-23 andapairof lift-cams 24 -24 which are designed to momentarily raise the :grip roller durinjg that portion .of thecycle of operationof thema'chine when twoaligning pinsindicated at 25-25 engagewithin the feedapertures provided inthe forms. i

The two feeddiscs are mounted upon a shaft 26 which is journalled at its opposite ends in the side walls 18-18 of the chassisand whichzextendsacrossthe register parallel with and belowtheigri'p roller. 'Oneend of the shaft 26 extends through a wall 18 at the right side of the autographic register (theleftside as seen. in Figure 3) and has a gear'27 pinned at its outer end. Gear 27 is designed to'mesh with a'gear 28 which is pinned to. the end of a shaft 29 which is part of the grip roller assembly. Thus, the feed discs and grip. roller are arranged to rotate together. Shaft 26hasa gear 30 at the rightendtthereof just inwardly of the chassis wall which meshes with. agear 31 pinned to across shaft 32 which mounts the two actuator cams '23-'23. 'A'third shaft 33 is journalledin the chassis walls. This shaft has a gear 34 pinned toit which is meshed with-gear 316 The shaft 33 extends outwardly through the wall '18 at the left sideof the machinevand has a hand crank 35 pinned to itsouter end. Thus, rotation of shaft 33 by means of the hand crank drives both shaft 32 and the shaft 26 through the gear train consisting of gears 34, 31 and 30. The ratio betweengear 34 on the crank shaft 33 fifld the gear 31 (ill Shaft 3Z-Which mounts theactuator cams 23, is one to one. By contrast, the' gear ratiobetween gear 31 on the actuator shaft 32 and the ear 30 on shaf' 26, is one to two. Thus, shaft 26 makes two revolutions for each revolution of shaft 32.

As: disclosed in detail in my copending ap lication Serial No. 404,561, the aligning pins 25 are slidably mounted upon the feed discs 22'. The respective pins are formed as integral parts of elliptically shaped plat s 36-36,.eachof whichis arranged to slidedianietrically of the feed-disc upon which it is mounted between a retractedpo ition in which the aligning inis inwardly of the periphery of the feed disc and an extended position in which the pinis outwardly. of thefeed disc. Normally each plate 36 is urged toward the retracted position by means" of a hairpin spring (not shown in the present instance). The actuator camsizs are designed to contact andextenclthe aligning pin plates. Such cofi't'a'ct, however, takes place only in the position of thecams123,

' when they are substantially straight upyand down and the pins are adjacent to the feed roller" 21. Due to the one to two. ratio of the respective gears 31 and 30, this occurs only once in every two revolutions of the shaft 26. The purposeof this arrangement is to adapt thefeeding and aligning mechanism to forms of various sizes, and particularly long forms.

The grip roller lift cams 24-24 are also mounted uponthe shaft 26. These cams are designed to engage the-grip roller at thesame time that the aligning ins move into the apertures in the forms so as to lift the roller and thereby free the forms so that they may be moved by the pins for registry purposes Each of the two, grip rollerv lifting cams is pinned to a gear 37 which is in mesh with and is driven'by a gear 38. ,The ratio between gears37 and 38 is'one' to one. Gear 38..is pinned to the shaft 32*which makes only one revolution foreac'lt two'of the shaft 26. Thus, there can-'bieno positive conmotion between the gear 37 and the groprollerlift cant as, the shaft 26 merely journalling the twoclements.

In h QPe Qn 9 h n sand al gn m ho nisrn, the grip roller 21 is constantly urged downwardly under the action of two coil springs, one of which, at the right side of the register, is indicated at 39 and the other of which, at the left side of the register, is indicated at 40. Thus, during the operation of the register the only time that the grip roller 21 is lifted is when it is engaged by the cams 24-24, and this occurs at a time just prior to the time of the completion of acycleof operation. At the end of the cycle the grip roller is again urged downwardly by the two springs 39 and 40 so as to hold the forms securely on the writing platen when they are being written upon.

The grip roller 21 is configurated to provide two tread portions 41-41 which are defined by pairs of grooves. The tread portions are spaced to contact the peripheries of the respective feed discs 22-22. In addition, the grip roller at the respective outer endsthercof journals two sleeves 42-42. These sleeves rotate freely'on the roller and arein position to be engagedby the -respective lift cams 24-24. The sleeves are provided because the roller in operation revolves at a considerably higher rate of speedrthan thelift cams and in the opposite direction. They, therefore, ser ve-to protect the lobes on the twolift cams 24against wear. U

The oppositeends .of the grip roller are journalled in pivotallymounted bearing arms 43-43. Each arrnmay include a..seat for an antifriction,bearing (not shown) atone end thereof to journal the shaft 29 of the grip rollerassembly. Theother end of each arm has a plain bore throughit toreceive a bolt- 44 by means of which the arm is pivotally journalled to the adjacent side plate 18 of the chassis. The respective coil springs 39 and .40 arepinnedto the respective grip roller bearing arms un dei'n'eath theroller journals as at 45-45 and extend downalong the outer-faces of the chassis sidewalls. The lower ends or the two springs 39 and 40 are journalled on pins sucha's those indicated at 46-46 inFigure 3. These two latter pins are secured. to rotatably mounted members. These. members respectively-are pinned to the opposite ends of a cross shaftv 4'7 which is journalled in the twoside plates [18-18 and which extends across the machine underneath theshafts of the feeding. and aligning' mechanism. The member to which the lower end of. the spring 39 at the crank or left sideof the register consists .of a simple crank plate48. At the other side or tight, s'ideofthe inachifie the lower .end of spring 40 is inned t a gear4 9. Ihege r' 49 and the crank plate 48, being joined together by the shaft 47, are designed to turn togetherthrough substantially more than ,18'0 .fiOm a position in whic'lithe respective pins .46 areovercenter at a loweredposition to a position in which the pins are overc'ent'er at an upper position. In the lower overcenter position, the two sprihgs 39 and 40 are under considerable tension so that the two bearing arms and-thegrip roller are urged doivnwardlytdbriiig the two'treadportions 41-41 into rolling contact with theperipheries. of the feed discs 22-2 .In the upper o erccnter position,

posed side edge of howeventhe two ins 46-46cdrripress the springs, pushing them upwardly so that they lift the respective bearing arms to elevate the grip roller substantiallyabove the feed discsffor loading purposes. ,The, twospring's 39 and 40, therefore, act nder tensio downwardly and act in com ression to push the grip roller upwardly. The means to shift the springs; from one operating condition to the other consists of a filigeroper'ated actuator -bart50 having a finger tab 51 turned overat the upper end thereof. The actuator bar islslidably mounted at the. rig'htts'ide of the machine in aitainer late 52 whichtna be sp t welded to the outside of the wall ofthe chassis which is at the right. Th plate 52 has an offset 53 on it which defines with the outside of the chassis .wall channel in ii theactuato barjn-a'y slide. The ex-j the actuator bar is conti orated to pro videa gear rack 54. This rack is meshed with an idler gear 55 which serves to maintain the actuator bar in its channel and which is meshed with the gear 49. Thus, moving the actuator bar 50 longitudinally of the channel in which it is seated causes gear 49 to rotate.

It will be seen that the gear rack 54, gear 55, and gear 49 are so interrelated that moving the actuator bar into the lowered position shown in Figure rotates the gear 49 to a position in which the pin 46,-which it carries,is overcenter of a substantially vertical line connecting the center of shaft 47 with the center of pin 45, the latter pin being the one which connectsthe upper end of the spring to the bearing arm. In this position the spring 40 is under considerable tension. The pin 46 is held in this position by the overturned finger tab 51. It will be seen that the upper end of the actuator bar 50 extends through a groove 56 cut in the inner face of the bearing armand that the finger tab 51 extends over the upper surfaceo-f the bearing arm. The tension of the spring tends to pull the actuator bar 50 downwardly, this movement being resisted by the engagement of the finger tab 51 with the upper surface of the bearing arm. With the finger tab thus engaged, the overcenter position of the pin 46 is a stable.

one. I

Figure 6 shows the actuator bar and spring in an intermediate position in which the actuator bar is being lifted. In the position shown, the coil spring is substantially relaxed with the coils engaging one another. In lifting the actuator bar above the position shown in this figure, the coil spring serves to push or lift the bearingarm upwardly until the pin 46 on the gear 49 reaches top center and moves slightly beyond to the overcenter position shown in Figure 8. This position of the'pin 46 is also a stable one inasmuch as further upward movement of the actua tor bar is stopped by means of an enlarged tooth 57 provided at the lower end thereof, the tooth wedging against the gear 55. i

It will 'be noted that the shaft 32, to which the two aligning pin actuator cams are affixed is used to journal the gear 55, this being a matter of convenience. The gear merely idles on the shaft, however,- being held thereon by a snap ring 58, see Figure 5.

The raising and lowering of the feed roller to clear the aligning pins for loading purposes also serves to latch and unlatch a floating guide plate 59. This plate is pivotally mounted for floating, rocking motion about an axis which extends across the register parallel with the grip roller at the discharge side thereof. The respective opposite ends of the guide plate 59 are received in journal apertures 60 which are formed in tabs 61 extending upwardly from the respective upper edges of the two side plate 18 of the chassis. The guide plate presents a lead' ing edge 62 toward oncoming forms. The plate is interleaved between forms, the form or forms passing under-' neath the plate being directed downwardly into the storage compartment and the form or forms passing over the guide plate being directed through the discharge slot 16 onto the top of the lid of the register. During the opera- =tion of the machine the leading edge of the guide plate rides upon the forms, or form if only one record copy is desired, which are being advanced by the feeding mecha nism of the register. Inasmuch as the lines of perforations in oncoming forms can become fouled on theleading edge of a loosely held guide plate, the present guide plate is arranged to be rigidly clamped during operation of the register as illustratedin Figure 7. Under these conditions the guide plate rests upon tabs 63 which are turned inwardly respectively from each of the side plates of the chassis. The plate is held down against the tabs 63 by tabs 64 which are aflixed respectively to the upper surfaces of the bearing arms 43 and which extend in! wardly toward one another from'the arms to contact the opposite outer ends of the guide plate. When the two bearing arms are down in form gripping relationship as shown in Figure 4, the respective tabs 63 and 64 are spaced apart just far enough to accommodate the respec tive ends of the guide plate and to clamp the plate rigidly, there between. This holds the plate so that it cannot be moved by the oncoming lines of perforations. It is found that the forms therefore slide over the leading edge instead of pivoting it into a jamming position.

If the guide plate were held by the tabs 63 and 64 when the bearing arms are in their lower positions, it would make it difficult to thread the forms which are to be directed to the storage compartment. For this reason, the tabs 64 are placed upon the bearing arms so that they lift with them when the bearing arms are raised for loading purposes. This permits the leading edge of the guide plate to be swung up into the position shown in Figure '9, in which position a substantial opening is provided to receive the form or forms which are to pass underneath of the plate and into the storage compartment.

The leading edge of the guide plate has appropriate slots in it to provide the necessary clearance for the aligning pins, the feed discs, and for the grip roller lift cams 24. Immediately below the guide plate 59, a plate 65 extends across the register, the latter plate being secured to and extending between the respective side plates ofjthe chassis; Plate 65 is slotted in order to provide the necessary clearance for the elements of the feeding and aligning mechanism. The plate 65 constitutes a table for directing the forms moving to storage underneath guide plate 59. At the opposite of the feeding and aligning mechanism, plate 65 serves to support the writing platen 14, the platen being hinged to the, plate 65 so that it may be raised, pivoting upon an axis which substantially parallels the grip roller.

To load the register, the lid is opened and the actuator bar 50 raised by pulling on the finger tab 51. This does two things; it raises the. feed roller to provide ample clear ance for engaging the forms on the aligning pins and it also frees the guide plate 59 so that it may be swung up to facilitate the threading of forms beneath it. If only one form is to bedirected into the storage compartment, the guide plate. is released after the lowermost one of the superimposed forms is in place. The other forms are simply laid on top of the guide plate. The loading is com:

pleted' and the register ready for operation upon sliding the actuator. bar to its lowermost position and closing the lid.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an autographic register adapted to operate upon manifolding stationery, a grip roller assembly comprising in combination a grip roller, a pair of bearing arms rotatably journalling the respective opposite ends of said grip roller, said bearing arms being pivotally mounted to permit the grip roller to be moved from a lowered operating position to a raised stationery loading position, an elongated coil spring connected to and depending from each of the bearing arms ata. point adjacent to said grip roller, a rotatable member disposed adjacent to the lower end of each of said coil springs, a pin afiixed to the lower end of each coil spring, the respective pins being mounted upon the rotatable members for simultaneous movementbetweena lower overcenter position and an upper overcenter position, the distance between said lower overcenter position and said upper overcenter position being greater than the distance the grip roller moves in travelling from its lowered operating position to its raised stationery loading position, said spring being of such length that they are under tension to urge said grip roller downwardly when said pins are in their lower overcenter posie tions and are under compression to push said grip roller upwardly when said pins are in their upper overcenter position, and means to selectively move said pins from one of their said positions to the other of their said positions. 2. In an autographic register adapted to operate upon manifolding stationery, a grip rolleryassembly compris.

side of the discharge side a lower overcenter position to said ing in combination a grip roller, a pair of bearing arms rotatably journalling the respective opposite ends of said grip roller, each of ysaid bearing arms being pivotally mounted to permit the grip roller to be moved from a lower operating position to "an upper stationery loading position, an elo g'at'ed coil spring pinned and depending from at least one of bearingarms at a point adjacent to the end .of said grip roller, a pin afiixed to the lower end of said coil spring, said pin being mounted for movement between a lower position and an upper position, the distance of travel of said pin from said lower position to said upper position being greater than the dis- 'tance of the movement of said grip roller from its operat' ing position to its loading position, and said spring bei'n'g of such length that it is under tension to pull said grip roller downwardly when said pinis in-its-lower position and is under compression to push said rolle'r upwardly when said pin is in its upper position, and means to electively move said pin from one of its positions to the other of its positions.

3. In an autographic register adapted to operate upon manifolding stationery, a grip roller assembly comprising in combination a grip roller, means journalling said grip roller, said means movably mounted to permit the grip roller to be raised from an operating position to an inoperative positin,- a coil spring pinned to and depending from said means, a pin connected to the lower end of said coil spring, said pin being mounted for movement. between a lowered position to an upper position, the distance'of travel of the pin from said lowered position to said upper position being greater than the movement of said. means when the grip roller is raised from its operating position to its inoperative position, said spring being of such length that it is under tension to urge said grip roller downwardly when said pin is in its lowered position and is under compression to push said roller upwardly when said pin is in its upper position, and means to selectively move said pin from one of its said positions to the other of its said positions. i

4. In an autographic register adapted to operatenpon manifolding stationery, a grip roller assembly comprising in combination a grip roller, mounting means rotatably journalling the respective opposite ends of saidgrip roller, said mounting means movably mounted to permit said grip grip roller to be raised from a lowered operating position to an upper stationery loading position, an elongated coil spring pinned to and depending from said mounting means, a rotatable member disposed adjacent to the lower end of said coil spring, a pin'connected to the lower end of said coil spring, saidpin'being mounted upon said rotatable member and adaptedror'movement therewith through an are greater than 180 between a lower overcenter posit-ion and an upper overcenter position, the distance of vertical travel of said pin from'said upper overcenter position being greater than the vertical movement of-said grip roller from itslowered operating position to its upper loading position, said coil spring being-of such length that it is under tension to urge said grip roller downwardly when said pin is in its lower overcenter position and is under compressionto'push said rollerupwardly when said pin is in its upper overeente'r position, and means to selectively move said pin f'r'om one o'f its positions to the other ofitspositions. I v i '5. In an autographic reg'ister,. a grip roller assembly comprising in combination a grip roller extending transvers'ely of said-register,-a pair of bearing arms journalling the respective opposite ends of said g'r'ip roller, said bearing arms pivotally mounted Tor -swinging movement between a lower position in which said grip roller istin' operating position and an upper position in which said grip .roller is raised to "faoilitatelo'ading of the register, a pair of rotatable members, each rotatable member'dis posed beneath a-bearing arm, a first spring connector on owner said bearing arms at apoiht removed from the register, 'a rotatable the pivot point thereof, a second spring connector on eacli'of said rotatable members, means interconnecting the respective rotatable members for simultaneous rotationa'l movement from a position in which the spring connectors thereon fare in lower overcenter positions with respect to a plane extending through the center about which the rotatable member rotate and through the first spring connectors" on the respective bearing arms to a raised position infwhich the spring connetcors on the rotatable members are in upper overcenter positions with respect to said plane, the straight line distance each second spring connector travels between its lower overcenter position'and its upper overcenter position being greater than the distance the grip roller moves from its operating position to its loading position, a coil spring attached to and extending between each of the first spring connectors on the bearing arms and the respectivesecond spring connectors on the rotatable members, each of said coil springs being of stichlength that it is under tension to urge the grip roller downwardly when the spring conmotor on the rotatable member to which it is attached is in its lower overcenter position and is under compression to push the grip roller into its raised loading position when the spring connector on the rotatable member to which it is attached is in its upper overcenter position, and means for selectively rotating the respective rotatable members from one position 'to;the other.

6. In an autographic register, a grip roller assembly comprising in combination 'a griproller, a pair of bearing arms journalling' the respective opposite ends of said grip roller, said bearingarms pivotally mounted for swinging movement between a lower position in which said grip roller is in operating position and an upper position in which said grip roller is raised to facilitate loading of member disposed beneath at least one of said-bearing arms, afirst spring connector on said bearing arm at a point removed from the pivot point thereof, a second spring connector on said rotatable member, said rotatable member adapted for rotational movement from a position in which 'said'second spring connector thereon isin a lower overcenter position with respect to a line connecting the center about which the rotatable member rotates and the center of the spring connector on the bearing arm to a raised position in which saidspring connector on the crank member is in an upper overcenter position with respect to said line, the straight line distance between said lower overcenter position and said upper overcenter position being greater than the distance the grip roller moves'from its operating position to, its loading position, a coil spring attached to and extending between the respective spring connectors, said coil spring being of such length that it is under tension to urge the grip roller downwardly when the springconnector on the rotatable. member is in its lower overcenter position and is under compression to push the grip roller into itsraised loadingpositionwhen the spring connector onqthe rotatable member is inits upper overcenter position,,and manuallyjoperable means for selectively moving the rotatable, member from one love'rcenter position ,to the other.

7. .In an autographic register havingra chassis mounting feeding and aligningmechanism including a grip roller extending transverselyof :the register above said chassis, grip roller 'mounting'fiI1d. actuating means comprising a pair'of'bearing arms, said bearingarms rotatably journalling the respective oppositeends of said grip roller, respectivebearing arms at the-respective sides of said chassis, whereby said grip roller is adapted to be moved from a lowered position in which itis operatively associated with said feeding and aligning mechanism to an upper position in which it is spacedjfrom said "feeding and aligning mechanism to facilitate loading of the register, a pair of elongated coil springs, each, of said'c'oil springsi secured to a bearing arm adjacent to an end of the grip roller and depending therefrom at a side of said chassis, a cross shaft rotatably journalled in said chassis and extending transversely thereof beneath said grip roller, a gear pinned to one end of said cross shaft outside of said chassis, a pin on said gear, said pin being attached to the lower end of the elongated spring which is at its side of the chassis, means to mount a similar pin at the opposite end of said cross shaft, the latter pin being connected to the lower end of the elongated spring at its side of the chassis, means to selectively rotate said cross shaft through more than 180 from a position in which the respective pins are in lower overcenter positions with respect to the plane which passes through the axis of said cross shaft and through the upper ends of said springs to an upper overcenter position with respect to said plane, and the respective coil springs being of such length that they are under tension to pull the grip roller downwardly into operating position when the respective pins are in their lower overcenter positions and they are under compression to raise said roller into its loading position when the respective pins are in their upper overcenter positions, and manually operated means including a gear rack and an idler gear, said idler gear being intermeshed with said gear rack and with the gear which is on the cross shaft adapted to rotate said cross shaft for moving the respective pins from their lower overcenter positions to their upper overcenter positions.

8. In an autographic register having a chassis mounting feeding and aligning mechanism and having a grip roller extending transversely of the register above said chassis, grip roller mounting and actuating means comprising a pair of bearing arms, said bearing arms rotatably journalling the respective opposite ends of the said grip roller, means pivotally mounting the respective bearing arms at opposite sides of said chassis whereby said grip roller is adapted to be moved from a lowered position in which it is operatively associated with said feeding and aligning mechanism to a raised position in which said roller is spaced upwardly from said feeding and aligning mechanism to facilitate loading of the register, a pair of elongated coil springs, each of said coil springs secured to a bearing arm and depending therefrom, means to raise simultaneously the lower ends of said coil springs, whereby the springs are compressed to lift the grip roller to its raised position, and the latter named means, in addition,

being adapted to lower simultaneously the lower ends of said coil springs, whereby the springs are tensioned to pull the grip roller downwardly into its operative position.

9. In an autographic register having a chassis mounting feeding and aligning mechanism and having a grip roller extending transversely of the register above said chassis,

means to move selectively said grip roller from a lower position in which it is operatively associated with said feeding and aligning mechanism to an upper position in which it is raised with respect to said mechanism to facilitate loading of the register, said means comprising pivotal means to mount said grip roller for swinging movement between said two positions, an actuator bar silidably mounted at a side of said chassis, a gear rack formed in a side edge of said actuator bar, an idler gear inter-meshed with said gear rack, a second gear intermeshed with the first mentioned gear, a spring connector on said second gear, the actuator bar and the two gears interrelated so that said spring connector is moved from a lower position to an upper position upon the sliding of said actuator bar from a lower position to an upper position, and a coil spring interconnecting said spring connector and said pivotal means, said coil spring being of such length that it is under tension to urge said pivotal means downwardly when said actuator bar is in its lower position and is under compression to push said pivotal means upwardly when said actuator bar is in its upper position.

10. In an autographic register having a chassis mounting feeding and aligning mechanism and having a grip roller extending transversely of the register above said chassis, means to move selectively said grip roller from a lower position in which it is operatively associated with said feeding and aligning mechanism to a raised position in which it is spaced above said mechanism to facilitate loading of the register, said means comprising pivotal means to mount said grip roller for swinging movement between said two positions, a spring connector disposed below and in spaced relationship to said pivotal means, manually operable means for moving said spring connector between a lower position and a raised position through a vertical distance greater than the distance between the two position of the grip roller, and a coil spring interconnecting said spring connector and said pivotal means, said coil spring being of such length that it is under tension to urge said pivotal means downwardly when said spring connector is in its lower position and it is under compression to push said pivotal means upwardly when said spring connector is in its upper position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,840,466 Quigley Jan. 12, 1932 2,123,994 Hagemann July 19, 1938 2,541,387 Salfisberg Feb. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 433,426 Great Britain Aug. 14, 1935 

